Kalimat al-Mutafalsif

Note: This post somewhat breaks my "No politics" rule. If you don't want to hear it, don't read it. If you have an opinion, leave a comment. I'm about freedom of speech and if you want to say "You suck" or "Amen to that" you can feel free to email me at snarky(at)thesnarky.com just please don't leave that as a comment since I want comments to go somewhere discussion wise. Oh, and Kanye if you read this, please drop me a line.

Today two albums came out today. One is 50 Cent's Curtis, the other is Kanye West's Graduation. (Ok, three if you count Kenny Chesney's newest as well *grin*). I have a very wide taste in music, there's no genre I completely dislike (though individual artists, as you're about to find out I am very specific about) and that taste does include Hip Hop/Rap (as well as Country). Both these artists are rather large in the Rap world, and its very interesting that they ended up releasing on the same day. Also interesting is that they both appeared on the same TV show (106 and Park) this afternoon. I decided to watch, as I've got mixed feelings on both artists and felt it'd be very interesting. Boy, I hate being right. Where to begin? (Note, if you don't care why I feel this way, skip down to the "Tell Kanye off with your wallet" section to see what I'm doing about it)

The Beginning
I've had somewhat of a dislike for Kanye ever since the fateful Katrina Telethon. I won't bother to do any more than a brief recap (there's a link for you to get the full scoop). I'd note that if he stuck with his first deviation from the script, I'd have no problem with the statement (almost... but this post isn't about that debacle). Then he pulled out the line "George Bush doesn't care about black people." I'm not here to say Bush does or doesn't, but any man that would say that during a telethon for people without homes, take the airtime away to perpetuate racism isn't a real man in my book. He should have put his beef away to help the innocent bystanders in all this. Instead he decided to make news, AND THAT WASN'T THE FIRST TIME! Go google his comments during Live 8 in Philidelphia.

So for the past two years I've had a subtle grudge against Kanye, basically just considering him the way I would a kid I'm babysitting who decided to pitch a fit when I won't let him have ice cream: Ignore the tantrum, and write it off due to not being mature. I enjoyed some of his songs, the beats are catchy, but as for him, I just ignored him.

VMAs
Couple nights ago was the VMAs in Las Vegas. Kanye got stiffed and was given one of the concert suites, while other artists were given the main stage. Rather than look at all the other talented artists who got stuck in the suites (Foo Fighters, Timbaland, Fall Out Boys) he saw that *gasp* white people got to go own the main stage, leading to the comment: "That's two years in a row... give a black man a chance..." not give "me" a chance, or give "a talented artist", but a "black man". Why does he say black? Because he needs to feel hated, he needs to feel that this country is still racist. I'm not saying it isn't, I'm not saying its anywhere near perfect, but why is it he finds racism in everything? Might it be because he paints the picture that its there, and then people "realize" it?

Quick note. Racism is a big sticking point for me because the most offended I have ever been is when someone decided to call me a racist for telling him to clean up (with the rest of the group, who were white). "Its cause I'm black!" were the last words he said before I blew up at him and lost all respect. There was nothing I could do to combat that charge, I'm the white one and of course there's going to be "racism", regardless of the fact that white people were told to do the same thing. Long story short, people just finding racism really pisses me off. Sure it exists, but when its found in everything, you're really creating a more hostile racial atmosphere and exacerbating this country's race issues.

I could go on. I could talk more about his tantrums, and his little performance on TV tonight, but I think you get the idea. He uses the position he has somehow gained in our society to run his mouth against white people. Quite frankly, I find that just a little racist myself. Forget the fact that very talented African American artists (Rihanna for one, big fan right here) did win awards they deserved the other night, he was more concerned about not getting the main stage so he made it seem like MTV has it out against black people. At some point watching 106 & Park I finally got disgusted. This little kid is taking everything he's been given, and squandering it whining about his life and people being against him. Lets see how "hard" he has had it.

Kanye's Life
Ok, it starts out hard, with his parents divorcing at a young age. Oh, did I mention his parents are a Christian Counselor (maybe a photojounalist, not sure when the switch happened) and a Chair of the English Department at Chicago State University? He grew up in Oak lawn, Illinois. Maybe there was a lot of racism there, as it was 93% white, and barely over 1% African American, but seeing as its a decent Southwestern Chicago suburb, with only 4ish% poverty and a household income almost exactly the same as the average for all of America I'd assume it was a decent upbringing (his mother agrees with me). I'd say I had a great upbringing, and my hometown has double the poverty of his. His college "dropout" was from Chicago State University (where his mommy was teaching) in order to pursue his music career. It was entirely his decision, and came after attending a nice art academy.

Sounds like a hard life, huh? This is why he finds racism, so he has something to give him street cred when he has to go up against rappers who have lived the life, and actually escaped the ghetto, not an upper middle class upbringing with two parents and college. You'll notice in interviews and public appearances he likes to speak in Ebonics (or an Ebonic like grammar). I find that quite funny, seeing as he had a great education and is obviously dumbing his speech down to play up his image. Not saying he has to speak in Queen's English, but I had a hard time finding anything he's said in grammatically correct English, and I know he's a smart guy.

Quickly compare that to 50 Cent, who was born to a teenage cocaine dealer, dealt drugs himself, has been shot, has been stabbed, and now has made a career to get out of the ghetto and do something with his life. Can we say American dream? If I pulls myself half as far as 50 has I'll consider myself a huge success, funny I'd say that I want to be like the ex-dealer who only has a GED long before I'd ever want to look anything like the spoiled brat frm Chicago. After 106 & Park it was obvious to me what the difference was. 50 gets it, he knows the wonderful opportunity he's been given and is enjoying his life. Reading through what they've done in there life, there's a marked difference. 50 cleans up his act, learns things the hard way, and now aspires to do right by his life, and his son. Kanye wants to dive deeper into the streets, find people to hate, and needs that to feel good about himself (I'm not even touching his ego in this post).

Tell Kanye off with your wallet
By the end of the episode I knew what I had to do. I decided to pop over to the nearest store and grab 50's album. Its like voting. Sure out of 280ish million my one vote seems small. But its one more vote, and in this case, darn it, I'm going to cast it towards 50. I also called up some friends, let them into my plan, and they're running out to do the same. I wouldn't have bought either CD before watching TV tonight. But now I've bought it solely for the purpose of seeing 50's numbers become more than Kanye's. In the end, 50 deserves that recognition, and (maybe) the money. Kanye deserves to get exactly what he's accusing everyone of, conspiring against him. Hear that Kanye? I can tell you something, and that's that you need to act like a grown up, and use that education.

Examples
Some quick examples from Kanye's song "Can't tell me Nothin" that shows how he tries to be something he's not.

And What I do? Act more stupidly.
Bought More Jewelry, More Louis V, My momma couldn't get through to me.

Actually his mom was his manager, so obviously she was doing something right.

I ain't one of the Cosby’s I ain’t go to Hillman
I guess the money should've changed him,
I guess I should've forgot where I came From.

First off, his education is quite nicely juxtaposed with his pretend ignorance by using "ain't" in a line where he's saying he didn't have a good college. (Hillman being a fake college in the Cosby Show). I know Chicago State isn't Hillman, but its still nice. And it appears you have forgotten where you came from, trying to act ignorant when you have an English teacher for a mother, and a good educational background.

La,la,la,la wait till I get my money right
la, la, la, la then you cant tell me nothing right
Excuse Me, is you saying something?

Now tell me that doesn't remind you of the kindergarten playground when you were trying to ignore that annoying kid, stuck your fingers in your ears, and started singing "la la la". Man, what a great rapper... /sarcasm

EDIT: Apparently 50's CD is available at Walmart for only $10.30... on sale the day it's out, it doesn't get better than that!